Tavares thinks big with amphitheater project, but will voters open up wallets?

July 25, 2010|By Christine Show, Orlando Sentinel

TAVARES — While most cities in Central Florida are looking for ways to cut back to survive the miserable economy, Tavares is thinking big.

City officials unveiled a plan last week to ask voters in November to help pay for an $8.8 million expansion of Wooton Park, the crown jewel of which would be an amphitheater seating 3,200. The proposal is only the latest of several Wooton Park-related projects the city has moved forward with in recent years, including a multimillion-dollar seaplane basin and $500,000 splash park.

"Tavares is really just in lockstep with the private sector, [which] is investing much more money into Tavares," City Administrator John Drury said, pointing to new businesses that have sprouted up in recent years. "I think it basically says that Tavares is no longer that little engine that could — it's the little engine that is."

The latest effort is in line with the city's ongoing dedication to improve the downtown core by sprucing up Wooton Park, which sits along Lake Dora. The project involves purchasing and improving a 3.7-acre piece of land owned by Tavares Station, which has had plans to build 25 luxury townhomes and a marina at the former site of the Lake Region Packing Association citrus plant.

Instead, the city wants to use that property as the site for a tiered amphitheater feet and a 50-slip dock for boats as part of a plan to separate the boating area from seaplane landings. Tavares Station still intends in upcoming years to build 175 condominiums and a number of buildings for retail and restaurants in downtown on a separate piece of land away from the waterfront, said Rodger Kooser, a managing member of the Tavares Station development.

'Good sales pitch'

Tavares Station intended to start building the waterfront townhomes in early 2011 until the city officials made their pitch.

"When the city approached us, my thought at first was absolutely no," Kooser said. But he changed his mind after hearing the city's plans. "They had a good sales pitch. We're all working for the same goal."

If voters don't approve the measure, though, Tavares Station's original plan will remain in place, he said..

"Our plan is to move forward in the spring with building the first batch of those townhomes," Kooser said.

The ambitious amphitheater project, however, would come at a steep cost to taxpayers. Residents will be asked in a referendum to approve a special property tax of roughly 82 cents for every $1,000 of taxable value. This would mean a person who owns a home assessed at $150,000 with $50,000 in homestead exemptions would pay approximately $82 per year. City officials said the payments would be complete after 30 years. Drury broke down the yearly tax to about $6.83 a month.

'A no-brainer'

Council member Lori Pfister called it a bargain.

"The citizens are getting so much more for their $6 — if that's what it comes down to — a month," Pfister said. "They are getting valuable lakefront property. I just think it's a no-brainer."

But residents haven't been willing to shell out more for taxes in the past. Last year, the city proposed adding a fire-assessment fee that would have taxed residents an additional $153 per home. Hundreds of residents who opposed the idea turned out at a meeting in July 2009, prompting council members to reject the fee.

Drury wouldn't say whether he was confident that residents would be in favor of the Wooton Park expansion tax, but he said the land is important to the city's future.

"The difference between a fire fee and this is that you're protecting your waterfront property," said Drury, who added that the amphitheater would produce revenue for the city.

'Not the best of times'

While the weak economy doesn't help with the city's pitch to residents to add a special tax, Economic Development Director Bill Neron said city leaders are worried about missing this opportunity to take over the land.

"It's not the best of times," Neron said. "But I don't think we have time to wait."

The land may be preserved from major development if the city took it over, but resident Jerry Wosika questioned whether building an amphitheater is a wise move.

"You can't just build it and hope that they come," Wosika said, adding that leaving the area as open space would be preferable.Neron said the amphitheater would be available for a range of uses, from concerts to graduations to political rallies.

"It's a multi-use venue," he said.

Next steps

The next step is approving an ordinance calling for a Nov. 2 referendum. First and second readings of the ordinance are set for next month. Taxes collected for the project would be used to pay off the purchase of the property at $4.5 million and allow for improvements worth up to $4.3 million.

Council member Kirby Smith said at last week's meeting that it's right to ask the public to make the choice.

"It should be up to the voters to give their opinion about what they would like to have," Smith said.